We're two games away from a final here. With a possible Setanta Cup place on the line this is good news.
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Having only once gone beyond the First Round in their first twenty years in the League Cup, Monday night saw UCD advance to the quarter-final stage for the third time in five years after an U-21 team knocked out a strong Rovers side courtesy of debutant Paul Whitmarsh's second half goal.
As expected, UCD made eleven changes from the side which beat Drogheda, and in fact, most of the players from the Dublin City League Cup game were in action again. Brian Gannon, who missed the Drogs win through illness, was in at right-wing - having found time to dye his hair blonde - while Aidan Lynch was selected at centre-back after missing a couple of games through injury. Up front, Paul Whitmarsh was selected for his debut - the 32-year-old was with Hendon and Sutton in England before ending up with Belgrove, and was part of Pete Mahon's team which played UCD in the FAI Cup two years ago.
Rovers, meanwhile, called on several first-teamers, with manager Roddy Collins saying earlier in he day that he was looking to the League Cup and FAI Cup for Rovers' chances of success this season. Barry Murphy, Jason Gavin, Trevor Molloy, Bernard Daniel, Derek Phillips and Brian McGovern all started, with Willo McDonagh coming off the bench in the second half.
The game was a fairly entertaining one by League Cup standards, with Neil Gallagher in the UCD goal performing heroics on a couple of occasions as Rovers, unsurprisingly, started stronger. Rovers were the first to threaten with a glancing free which went straight at Gallagher, but a few minutes later, Gallagher had to react superbly to turn away a header which took a deflection to send the ball towards the top corner. UCD's best chance early on fell to Aidan Lynch, who was in a group of three or four UCD players who all went for the same free-kick; his powerful header was well held by Barry Murphy in the Rovers goal.
The game's turning incident was the sending off of Rovers' captain Trevor Molloy on 33 minutes. Chasing a long ball with a UCD defender (Aaron McEniff I think), he seemed to push the UCD player in the back and towards the advertising hoardings. The ref immediately awarded a free out and showed Molloy the red card. Those nearer the incident did note that there was more punch than push about Molloy's challenge, however, and that the ref had no real choice.
A half-time substitution indicated UCD's positive frame of mind as they withdrew Liam Tiernan - a full-back - and replaced him with Colm Kierans, with Gannon dropping to full-back. UCD upped their tempo and had a few good chances in the opening quarter hour of the second half, with Conor Sammon going close with a header, while Paul Whitmarsh turned well in the box only to see his powerful drive turned away. And on the hour, it was Whitmarsh who opened the scoring - the second time in this League Cup that a debutant has scored for UCD, after Derek Doyle's striek against Dublin City. Aaron McEniff released Whitmarsh with a ball over the top, and with Murphy caught in no-man's-land, the big striker calmly lobbed the keeper from the edge of the area for an excellent finish.
Rovers tried to counter - Bernard Daniel was played through in similar style, but was well-marshalled by the typically well-organised UCD defence, while Neil Gallagher for the most part dealt well with what balls were pumped into the box. With a quarter of an hour to go, Whitmarsh was played through again - he was beaten to the ball by a defender, whose tidying backpass caught Murphy napping and the keeper had to scamper back to nick the ball off the line and away for a corner. From the corner, Aidan Lynch might have made the game safe, but his shot from ten yards lacked any power.
Two minutes later, Rovers were awarded a dubious free 25 yards out for a foul by Kieran Harte, who appeared to win the bal cleanly. Willo McDonagh's low drive brought an excellent stop out of Neil Gallahger at the expense of a corner.
After that, UCD closed the game out, and Rovers were limited to a couple of hopeful long-range efforts - Paul Caffrey went close, but his effort never troubled Gallagher - as College secured their place in the quarter-final draw.
UCD - Gallagher; Tiernan (Kierans h/t), McEniff, Lynch, Foley; Harte, Gannon, O'Brien, Doyle; Whitmarsh, Sammon (Murphy 80). Subs not used - Long, Brophy, Cashen.
Att - 490
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
) We kind of spotted him straight away yesterday - balding, shaven headed with a goatee - not your average 18-year old striker! Did alright - took his goal very well, and could have had another a couple of minutes earlier but for a good save, but didn't get a huge amount of service.
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